A blog trying to focus on all the nice things in life, those moments when everything turns out right. Finding the perfect fabric for that chart you love, the ideal sampler quote, just the right picture in all the 1000s of magazines you own. Meeting people who share your interests and obsessions and totally understand why you NEED that chart when you already have enough to last until you're 104

Translate

Saturday, 31 December 2016

I have been doing really well keeping up with the 12 Days of Christmas SAL during my time off work. Here is the work for the 6th Day of Christmas:

and the lovely Angel:

And here is the 7th Day:

I had a full day at work today and only managed 30 minutes stitching during my break. I stitched a little bit of dark green on Day 7 and those little green corner stitches on each of the other days! So I did technically stitch on every block today, even if it was just 1 stitch in the corner.

It is customary at this time of year to look back at achievements and make plans for the coming year. I have already done my WIPocalypse Review and my Smalls Review so now it's time for an overview. I completed 45 different projects this year, from the small to the large. Elizabeth Shephard was probably the largest individual design I finished this year and the Stitch for Syria the smallest.

Just in case you missed any finishes, here's a full run-down:

I have prepared some pie for you all. Firstly, here is December's pie, not many ingredients this month!

And here is the annual pie divided by designer:

You can see that Nora Corbett is way out in front with five different designs (4 letters and a cottage). The Sugar Skulls and the monthly Stitcher's Alphabet have earned Brooke Nolan her second place and Just Nan comes third with various Hallowe'en designs plus Spring Typography.

I have tracked my spending this year, even though I wasn't Stitching From Stash. December was another good month:

CSC Subs

£8.72

Sparklies Fabric

£22.50

Total

£31.22

My total for the entire year was just under £500 divided as follows:

Charts

£151.10

Fabric

£146.38

Magazines

£87.77

Threads

£86.31

Beads

£24.45

Storage

£4.05

But I did spend £156 on just two projects for next year! My Discworld Map was £70 for the chart, fabric and multiple skeins of DMC. The Chatelaine was £86 for chart, fabric and speciality threads (excluding the ones that were gifted to me for my Birthday).

Finally, after a terrible year of news and world events we got 3 pieces of good news today. My cousin's new baby arrived today, she has been named after me (well, technically after my middle name which is a family name) and it's a new initial so I have an excuse to buy Nora Corbett's M Fairy now to match her cousin's fairies from this year!

Thursday, 29 December 2016

For both challenges I chose a larger piece which could be broken down into segments to meet the monthly themes.

For the Hallowe'en Blog it was Counting Bats by Just Nan:

stitched on 32 count lavender linen

And this little Bad Bat Fairy based on a Lucie Heaton design:

And Just Nan's Ghastly, Ghostly Ghouls to cover 2 months:

And for the Christmas SAL it was the Christmas Cubes by The Primitive Hare:

stitched on 35 count Country Mocha linen

I stitched six of the Daffycat Reindeer for the Christmas SAL for the months when there wasn't a suitable cube:

I also made use of the Fifth Fridays in three months and stitched three of the Teresa Wentzler Byzantine Ornaments:

stitched on 28 count burgundy linen

There were other smalls throughout the year and by clicking on the label "Ornament SAL" you can see them all.

The next SAL is the It's TUSAL time again!

For those of you new to blogging, the TUSAL is a project run by Daffycat, click on the button on the right hand bar for more details.

Here is my ORTS jar posing with the current stitching project:

Joan Elliott's 12 Days of Christmas for the Stitch Maynia FB Challenge

On the First Day of Christmas this is what I stitched:

On the Second Day of Christmas this is what I stitched:

On the Third Day of Christmas this is what I stitched:

On the Fourth Day of Christmas this is what I stitched:

On the Fifth Day of Christmas this is what I stitched:

Here is the whole piece so far:

And here is a close-up of the Angel:

Each day I stitch one length of thread on each of the blocks and then spend the rest of the day stitching on the Angel. In the evening I stitch more border!

Finally, I have put up the new Sign-Up Page for Gifted Gorgeousness and added a new logo for 2017. I have noticed that a few people still have the link to the 2015 SAL in their sidebars. Neither the 2015 nor the 2016 will link now, I have retired those pages so please link using this new photo and the new page link. I hope that lots of you will join in again next year, the rules are pretty free and easy and there are sometimes giveaways too.

Monday, 26 December 2016

Two Turtle Doves and a Partridge in a Pear Tree. Plus a bit of Herald Angel!

stitched on 32 count white evenweave

This is a project full of 12's. I started in on the 12th of the 12th, it's called the 12 Days of Christmas and I am stitching it for the SAL of the same name in the Stitch Maynia FB group.

The Herald Angel is going to be my piece for the final month of the Christmas Ornie SAL Blog so I started her first and got quite a lot done before Christmas:

Then for each day starting with the First Day of Christmas (ie Christmas Day or yesterday) I will stitch the relevant days.

On the First Day I stitched just the green on Partridge in a Pear Tree:

On the Second Day I stitched the dark grey on Two Turtle Doves:

and the black in the Partridge along with his pear:

and some more Herald Angel:

The plan for the Third Day is to stitch a little bit of the first three days and then more of the Angel. Then each day I will stitch a little bit of each day then focus on the Angel until I finish her and then the Partridge to finish that block for the January theme on the Christmas Ornie SAL blog. Apart from Days 7 and 9 when I am working all day. Those days I will just stitch on the relevant day and maybe the Partridge if I get time.

The boring borders are going to be my bath-time project until they are done. They don't look much but there is a row of metallic on either side of that red.

As today was the 26th of the month, it was time for another FB SAL - the Now I Know my ABCs for Cross Stitch Finish Line. For this monthly SAL I am doing my adaptation of Enchanted Alphabet by Lavender & Lace. I am turning it into a spooky version as you can see:

washed-out daylight photo of 32 count Tiger Lily by Sparklies

The letter G took me a couple of hours this morning and then I stitched on the 12 Days all afternoon. Bliss! It also explains why I have emails and blogs going back several days to answer. I will get there!

Thank you to everyone who took part in the Advent Calendar Blog Hop this year, I did keep up with commenting on that one! It was lovely to see all your stitching and read about all your precious ornaments and decorations. It's nice to hear more about how you all celebrate. The direct links to the various posts are on my blog now so you can easily find the posts if you missed them during Advent.

Finally, I had a Final Finish on the Friday before Christmas:

Christmas Cubes by The Primitive Hare

Talk about last minute! But they are all done and have been on display over Christmas for all to see.

Blogger of the Week

2018 GG

New followers, please leave a comment so I can return the favour and follow you!

About Me

I'm a stitcher from the East of England, married with two boys.
I've been stitching since 1993 and have a dated sampler to prove it! I love the cross stitch chat forums and discovered blog-stalking a while back then started one of my own.
I love to stitch fantasy themes and samplers most of all. Mirabilia, L&L, Just Nan, Joan Elliot and TW are my favourites but my ambition is to stitch a Chatelaine...one day!
edit to say - 2017 is that day! I officially started my first Chatelaine mandala on 10th February 2017.